Bailey was happily perched in the back cab of the ladder truck flipping through The Scarlet Letter, her assigned reading for English class. TK had been called out on a medical call about twenty minutes before, leaving Bailey surrounded by the rest of the 126 and her homework. Even though there were rolling blackouts throughout Austin due to the heat, the firehouse had generators to keep the AC on and humming. They were in the middle of a heatwave that didn't show any sign of relenting. They weren't predicted to let up until mid-November which left Bailey in a bit of a bind. If she wasn't sitting in front of an AC vent then she was packed in a cooling blanket, if not that then she was sitting in one of the trucks or the ambulance while they were under maintenance since they tended to keep the trucks running. However, Bailey's condition didn't like to take a day off and she was nervous about what may come with the blazing heat. Everybody on the 126 had downloaded the same application that Bailey had on her phone so that they too would be alerted if her body temperature climbed beyond or dropped below normal levels. It had been relatively helpful especially before Bailey had moved into TK and Carlos' home. Now though, she was more relaxed and with the team's help she had been able to stay in more comfortable environments which in turn kept her symptoms at bay.

When she felt the AC in the cab stop she looked up and saw Judd waving her out. She pushed the door open and poked her head out.

"All done?" She asked.

"Yup, sorry kiddo, time to find another cranny." He said.

"Okay, thanks Judd." Bailey said, collecting her book and climbing down the side of the truck.

Her side brushed rather briskly against a portion of the ladder and she tucked away when she felt the metal against her probe. Even though she'd been living with the probe for nearly ten years, it was still sensitive and she sometimes forgot to give herself a bit more space on her left side, not remembering its placement. A tug or jolt in the wrong direction could cause serious damage to both the technology and to Bailey. She definitely did not want to mess with it. The heat was considerably higher in the garage than in the cab and Bailey had to take a moment before her body wanted to move.

"You good Bails?" Owen called from the back of the garage.

"Yeah," Bailey called. "Just adjusting."

Owen nodded but she saw him pull out his phone, nonetheless. He'd become fairly protective over her since she'd moved in with his son. Bailey smiled and shook her head, walking into the kitchen and pulling open the fridge to get a snack. A sudden waive of dizziness and mild nausea washed over her and she squeezed her eyes shut and swallowed hard. Something in her gut felt off, she wasn't sure if her temp was climbing or if she was coming down with something.

"Hey, don't spoil your dinner, Carlos will be here to pick you up in a bit." TK's voice spooked her and Bailey jumped a bit.

She turned around slowly and saw him leaning against the island behind her.

"When did you get back?" Bailey asked, closing the fridge door.

"Just now. Easy call, just took a while to get there." TK said, taking in Bailey's body language. Her movements were sluggish and her speech was less fluid.

"Cool." Bailey said, smiling slightly and moving towards the couch to sit down.

TK furrowed his brow and followed her.

"Bailey, what's going on?" TK asked.

"I don't know." She mumbled slumping over and rubbing the heels of her palms into her eyes, her body suddenly feeling heavy and tired.

"Bailey, you don't look like you're 100% so what's going on?" TK pressed.

Bailey looked up at TK and shook her head.

"I really don't know." She said.

There were tears in her eyes but she didn't know why she was crying. Her head was muddled but she didn't know why. She'd been fine until she'd climbed out of the cab.

"Okay Bails," TK said sitting next to her. "You're probably just tired and you might be a little warm too. Carlos'll be here soon, why don't you go lay down in my bunk for a while, cool off and I'll check on you in a bit."

"Okay," Bailey said. "Thank you."

TK smiled softly and hugged her to his side gently.

"Go rest." He said.

Bailey took her leave, walking slowly to the bunk room and crashing hard on TK's bed.

TK buffed out the same corner of the ambulance for probably the fifth time.

"TK," Somebody called. TK's head snapped up and he saw Carlos standing by the garage door. "I think that that corner is sufficiently buffed."

TK nodded absently and turned off the machine.

"Yeah, sorry I'm just thinking." TK said.

Carlos nodded and took slow steps over to his boyfriend.

"About…" He prompted.

"Bailey," TK replied. "She wasn't feeling well but her temp has been steady all day so I told her to lay down in my bunk and rest for a while but I can't help but think that something is wrong. She normally has so much energy and she's just been really mellow and off since I got back from my last call."

Carlos nodded.

"Maybe she's just in a funk. She's seventeen, weren't you moody as a teenager?" He asked.

"I was a white gay kid in a New York public high school with divorced parents, self-image issues, and addiction problems," TK said. "I was the definition of a moody teenager."

Carlos chuckled.

"Well, I'm gonna go take her home and get some food in her and hopefully being in her own bed and getting a good night's rest will help, yeah?" He said.

"Sounds good. She was still in my bunk last I checked," TK replied. "I'll walk up there with you. I wanna check on her again."

Carlos chuckled at his boyfriend, he knew that TK saw Bailey more and more as a daughter as time went on, and though he tried to keep his own fatherly instincts at bay, Carlos knew that he too was guilty of the same. Together they made their way up to the crew bunks where Bailey was still sleeping. TK sat on the edge of the bed and gently shook Bailey awake.

"Bails, time to wake up. Carlos is here to take you home." TK said.

"Five more minutes dad." Bailey mumbled, rolling away from TK's hand.

TK froze, did she just say what he thought she just said? He looked to Carlos who looked just as surprised, but he also looked proud. TK shook it off, but a smile still touched his lips.

"Come on Bails, I know you aren't feeling well but you should go home and eat something." TK said.

Bailey's eyes slowly peeled open, and she rolled back over onto her back. TK smiled at her and brushed her hair off of her face. Though when his fingers touched her skin he furrowed his brow. He put the back of his hand against her forehead and then ran it down to her cheek.

"She's running a bit high." TK mumbled, pulling out his phone to get a read from her port.

"She is?" Carlos asked, leaning over TK and placing his own hand against Bailey's skin.

"Yeah, the probe only says it's elevated slightly. I don't think it's too much to worry about. Just take her home cool her down, make her eat something and call me if it goes any higher." TK said.

Carlos nodded.

"Okay, I'll put her in our room so she's close to me. I will call you every hour with updates." He promised.

TK helped Carlos move Bailey to the car. She was pretty out of it, but TK chalked it up to having only just woken up. When Carlos drove off TK stayed at the garage entrance until he couldn't see the car anymore.

"Hey TK, is Bailey alright? She seemed kind of out of it." Marjan asked.

TK nodded turning to her and then seeing Judd and Mateo not too far off.

"Yeah, her temp's a little elevated but nothing too bad. Carlos is taking her home. He's gonna call me if something happens." He said, his eyes trailing back to the road and biting his lip.

"You don't think it's just her temp," Judd laughed, TK looked to the older man and furrowed his brow. "You have a look."

"What look?" TK asked.

"The dad look." Owen said, joining his team.

"I'm not a dad." TK argued.

"You might as well be. Bailey's been living with you and Carlos for what? Two months now? It's obvious that she's happy and you and Carlos can't help but talk about her with pride. Trust me, I know," Owen said. "It's the same way I talk about you."

TK smiled and looked at his feet.

"What?" Mateo asked.

"Nothin', it's just when I woke her up in the bunks a bit ago she called me dad," He said, his heart welling with pride. "She was pretty out of it and I doubt she even remembers but it felt good."

Judd laughed and gave TK a slap on the shoulder.

"Atta boy, we gotta proud daddy on our hands y'all." He said.

TK laughed but nodded anyway. They were right, he was proud, and very very happy.

Carlos was worried. Bailey hadn't eaten anything, instead she had opted to go straight to bed. He'd convinced her to shower and sleep in he and TK's room so that he could keep an eye on her but that was the extent of his capabilities. She looked to be in pain, her face contorted in a fitful sleep that Carlos had never seen before. He brushed the back of his hand against her forehead and felt an immense heat radiating from her skin.

"What the hell?" He muttered.

He quickly checked his phone, but the program still read normal.

"Forget this," He mumbled, reaching for the thermometer that he kept next to his bed. One scan and his stomach dropped. 104°. "Fuck."

Carlos jumped onto his knees, leaning over Bailey and shook her shoulder.

"Bailey, Bailey wake up." He pleaded.

Bailey only grumbled; her eyelids too heavy for her to peel open. Every time Carlos shook her, her side flared with pain.

"Ow, stop it." She said.

"What?" Carlos asked. "Ow? What hurts Bailey?"

Bailey weakly pointed to her side and Carlos looked down to her side. The sun had long since set so nothing was really visible but when his hand brushed over Bailey's pajama shirt and it came away wet, he didn't have to be able to see it to know exactly what it was. He picked up his phone, nearly dropping it in his terrified state.

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"

TK was just about to clock out when the call came through.

"Medical alert to 736 Eucalyptus Drive, seventeen-year-old female reported high temperature and injury to side."

B-shift was already loading up when Owen called them off.

"We'll take it!" He yelled, no member of the A-shift having a problem as they grabbed their gear. "TK, call Carlos!"

TK nodded reaching for his phone as he slid into the passenger seat of the ambulance. He wasn't surprised when it went to voicemail, but it did nothing for his anxiety. Their house wasn't far from the station, despite that though, minutes felt like hours as they drove through the Austin streets. The second the ambulance pulled into the driveway behind Carlos' car, TK was out and stumbling up to the door. He pulled out his keys and pushed the door open so hard that he was sure the knob left a hole in the wall. He scaled the stairs in record time and ran into his and Carlos' room. He only saw general shadows until his hand found the light switch. Carlos was perched over Bailey, his hands putting pressure over her side.

"Carlos, what happened?" He asked, rushing over and lifting Carlos' hands to see where the blood was coming from.

"I don't know, but her port is bleeding." Carlos said.

"She must have clipped it on something, no wonder the readings were wrong. Tommy we need to take her in now!" TK yelled, Tommy and Nanci hadn't been far behind, but TK had still had a sizeable lead on them.

"Carlos, carry her down, it'll take too long to try and get the gurney up here." Tommy said from the door.

With Carlos carrying Bailey they were soon back in the ambulance heading towards the hospital. Tommy was looking at the wound and though she was trying to hide it, both TK and Carlos could see her grimaces.

"How bad?" TK asked.

"She didn't just clip it; she tore it. I don't know how much damage she did internally. She'll need surgery for sure though. What's her temp at?" Tommy said.

TK took her temp again and bit the inside of his cheek.

"102.7°." He said.

"Well that's better than 104°." Tommy said.

Bailey groaned and her eyes slowly began to open.

"Bailey, hey sweetheart. Open your eyes. You're in the ambulance," TK said. "Tommy's here and Carlos. You did a number on your port kiddo."

Bailey blinked weakly.

"Dad?" She mumbled, her hand searching for something.

TK reached forward and gripped her hand.

"I'm here." He said.

"Papá?" She mumbled.

Carlos' eyes widened. She'd never called him that before.

"Yeah I'm here too mija." Carlos said, running a hand down her cheek.

"Scared," She breathed, a tear running down her cheek. "Hurts."

"We're almost to the hospital sweetheart then we'll get you all patched up and back to running laps with Buttercup in no time." Tommy said.

The ambulance doors were pulled open as Bailey's eyes closed again and the heart monitor beeped erratically.

"Seventeen-year-old female name Bailey Williams, injury to her left lower abdomen, thermoregulatory implant pulled out of place, unsure of how. Patient also running high fever and has been for an unknown amount of time. Diagnosed with thermoregulatory dysfunction. Allergic to Benadryl and acetaminophen. Unconscious when she was loaded, regained consciousness in the ambo for a minute and then she was gone again." Tommy ran down the list of information as TK and Carlos stuck by the gurney as closely as they could. She was still talking but neither man heard it, their attention solely on Bailey.

"Get her into trauma one now and call up to the OR, we need them prepped with 4 pints of O neg on stand-by." The ER doctor immediately started giving orders.

A nurse stepped in front of TK and Carlos, stopping them from getting any closer. They were both covered in a fair amount of blood but their eyes didn't leave Bailey.

"Are you both okay?" The nurse asked.

"We're fine but please just help her." Carlos said, pulling TK against him, needing some form of contact amidst the chaos.

"Okay, are you family? Her parents?" She asked and Carlos shook his head.

"We're her foster parents. Her birth parents died fourteen years ago." He said, his eyes still tracking Bailey and the nurses swarming around her.

"Can I ask you some questions about her medical history? We need to know some things." The nurse said.

"Ma'am I can answer any questions you have." Owen said, stepping in for Carlos who was losing his ability to answer calmly.

"She's coding!"